TOP STORIES

Swamping Bad Cells with Good in ALS Animal Models Helps Sustain Breathing
Recently Packard Center researchers report that transplanting a new line of stem cell-like cells into rat models of ALS clearly shifts key markers of neurodegenerative disease in general and ALS in particular-slowing the animals' neuron loss and extending life.

SPECIAL FEATURE

Video: Preparation and Maintenance of Dorsal Root Ganglia Neurons in Compartmented Cultures
This video describes the technique of preparing and maintaining compartmented chambers for culturing sensory neurons of the dorsal root ganglia.

SCIENCE

Worms' Nervous System Shown to Alert Immune System in Stanford Studies
In a study recently published researchers have shown that a change in the secretion patterns of nerve cells in the minuscule soil-dwelling worm, Caenorhabditis elegans, induces a change in the worm's susceptibility to a bacterial pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Stem Cells May Act as "Trojan horse" to Deliver Gene Therapy to Injured Central Nervous System
The Methodist Hospital in Houston have shown that transplanted bone marrow stem cells can attach themselves to injured areas in the brain or spinal cord, possibly providing a way to deliver future gene therapy.

Gene Therapy Restores Vision to Mice with Retinal Degeneration
Massachusetts General Hospital researchers have used gene therapy to restore useful vision to mice with degeneration of the light-sensing retinal rods and cones, a common cause of human blindness.

A Breakthrough on Paralysis?
Washington researchers demonstrated that an artificial connection between nerve cells in the brain and muscles can be used to restore voluntary movement to paralyzed limbs.

ABSTRACTS

Reprogramming of Neural Progenitor Cells into Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells in the Absence of Exogenous Sox2 Expression
This study's data shows that in addition to mesoderm- and endoderm-derived cell types, neural progenitor cells of the ectodermal lineage can be reprogrammed into iPS cells, suggesting that in vitro reprogramming is a universal process.

Autophagic Death of Adult Hippocampal Neural Stem Cells Following Insulin Withdrawal
The researcher's data demonstrate that hippocampal neural stem cells undergo a caspase-independent, autophagic cell death following insulin withdrawal.

Neuromuscular Synaptic Function in Mice Lacking Major Subsets of Gangliosides
This paper measured in detail the electrophysiological parameters of synaptic transmission at the neuromuscular junction ex vivo of a GD3-synthase knockout mouse, expressing only the O- and a-series gangliosides, as well as of a GM2/GD2-synthase*GD3-synthase double-knockout mouse, lacking all gangliosides except GM3.

Calpastatin Overexpression Attenuates Amyloid-β-Peptide Toxicity in Differentiated PC12 Cells
The study's results demonstrate that the effects of Aβ-toxicity studied here were attenuated to a large extent by calpastatin overexpression, indicating that the protease calpain is involved in Aβ-toxicity (obviating a primary, direct role for caspases).

Amyloid-Beta Peptide Decreases Glutamate Uptake in Cultured Astrocytes: Involvement of Oxidative Stress and Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Cascades
The results of this paper suggest that Aβ peptide down regulates the astrocytic glutamate uptake capacity and this effect may be in part mediated by oxidative stress and the differential activity and complex balance between the MAP kinase signaling pathways.

Interaction between Reelin and Notch Signaling Regulates Neuronal Migration in the Cerebral Cortex
The combination of the results presented in this paper indicates that neuronal migration in the developing cerebral cortex requires a Reelin-Notch interaction.

INDUSTRY

University of Toronto and Kyoto University Join Forces in Stem Cell Research
A world-class partnership in stem cell research was forged recently in Japan, as esteemed scientific teams at University of Toronto and Kyoto University joined forces in the race to get cutting-edge therapies to the clinic.

California Stem Cell Agency Signs Deal with U.K.
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the United Kingdom's Medical Research Council signed a memorandum of understanding today that they say will make it easier for researchers in California and the U.K. to obtain joint funding.

Hansjorg Wyss Gives $125 Million to Create Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering
Engineer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Hansjorg Wyss MBA '65 has given Harvard University $125 million to create the Hansjorg Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.

POLICY

Spinal Cord Stem Cell Trial could Start Soon, Report Says
A clinical trial that would test the use of embryonic stem cells to treat spinal cord injury could begin within three months thanks to a projected lifting of a Food and Drug Administration hold on the trial.

Draft Guidance for Industry: Potency Tests for Cellular and Gene Therapy Products